Security guard injured in September hit-and-run dies

ST. PETERSBURG — Edward Guzenski, a security guard whose car was broadsided by a hit-and-run driver in September, has died.

The accident happened shortly before midnight on Sept. 5, Guzenski's 88th birthday, when he was returning from his job at Bayway Isle in Tierra Verde. Police said the hit-and-run occurred after an officer noticed a 2002 Ford Mustang moving erratically on 35th Street N. When the officer turned on his lights and siren and tried to pull him over, the driver turned off his headlights and sped up. The driver, described by police as a black man in his mid-to-late 20s, then ignored a stop sign at 22nd Avenue N and slammed into the passenger side of the Toyota Camry Guzenski was driving. Police said the officer was not pursuing the Mustang when the crash occurred. Guzenski, who was critically injured, died on Jan. 18. The driver that hit his car has not been caught. Police are still investigating and are asking anyone with information to call Officer Stanley Deckert at (727) 893-7633.